


it's your flawless soul that bleeds my stone

by sunflowergolden



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: F/F, Femslash, Fluff, Friends AU, Friends to Lovers, Girl Direction, Happy Ending, Harry is a chef, but you can still read it even if you haven't watched the show!!!, everyone is a girl - Freeform, harry and louis lost contact after high school but now they're back, it's winter, of course, prepare for a lot of friends references, they live in new york
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-11-30
Updated: 2020-11-30
Packaged: 2021-03-10 02:42:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 12,862
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27786937
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunflowergolden/pseuds/sunflowergolden
Summary: “I think you have to see this for yourself. Look at the girl that just walked in.”Everyone turned their heads towards the door. And. Harry was going to faint. She was sure of that. The girl that just walked in, looked like an actual angel. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows, and she looked gorgeous. Her hair was long, her make-up was done, and she was wearing a dress. Not just a regular dress, but a wedding dress. Which… was wet. When Harry took a good look at her, she could see that the girl was also soaking wet.Huh, guess it was raining outside. So, she also looked like a drowning cat, but honestly, Harry could look past that.or, the one where louis runs away from her wedding, harry lets her stay with her, and there's not a universe where they don't fall in love
Relationships: Harry Styles/Louis Tomlinson, Zayn Malik/Liam Payne
Comments: 7
Kudos: 27
Collections: Girl Direction Winter Fic Fest





	it's your flawless soul that bleeds my stone

**Author's Note:**

> hiii!
> 
> based on the prompt "an au based on Friends where Person A has just run out on her wedding and seeks out Person B who lives in the city to escape. Person B takes her in helps her adjust and they become roommates but it eventually turns into something more"
> 
> thank you so much to the mods of this fest to putting this all together!!  
> i couldn't have done this without all the encouragement from my friends to actually finish this and a huge thank you to my friend yael who was willing to beta this for me on the last day before the deadline!!
> 
> the title is from loving you by paolo nutini. if you don't know him pls check out his songs bc they're all incredibly good
> 
> (if you're wondering about 'a moo point', i suggest watching [ this ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=62necDwQb5E) video)

“Oh my god, you have got to be kidding!” Niall almost yelled.

“Shh, keep it down. We don’t need _everyone_ to hear.” 

“But H, you just left her there?”

Harry looked at Niall incredulously. “Well, yeah. What was I supposed to do? Wake her up, be like “hey I’m sorry for boring you so much on our date you _actually_ fell asleep, you wanna get some drinks now?” What the fuck Niall.”

“Yeah Ni, what the fuck.” Liam chimed in, walking back from the bar to the sofa. Liam was one of her oldest friends. They met at her first job, when Harry had just come to New York. She was bartending in a tiny restaurant, and Liam happened to do the financial things there. She was in charge of the money, or whatever. Honestly, who really knew what Liam’s job was? All Harry knew was, they had bumped into each other on Harry’s first day, and they hit it off immediately. Liam stayed till after Harry’s shift, they got to talking, and they haven’t really stopped since. As luck would have it, Liam, together with Zayn, happened to live in the flat right across from Harry. Zayn though, she was a whole different story. Harry and Zayn didn’t really get along in the beginning, but it turns out that was only due to a very big misunderstanding. You see, Zayn and Harry dated the same girl for a while. They didn’t know that in the beginning of course, but when they found out, it seemed like all they could do was fight. The girl had strung them both on for a few months, and when she accidentally scheduled a date with them at the same time, and ran with it, Harry and Zayn had definitely butted heads. They both felt they were exclusively dating the girl and so they saw the other one as ‘the mistress’, which wasn’t a great time for any of them. After Liam had had enough, she both sat them down and forced them to talk it out. They quickly came to the realisation that the girl they were dating was the crappy one, and they actually had a lot in common. So, after they talked it out, they talked about nothing, well into the night, and they’ve been friends ever since. 

“I mean, H, you’ve had some pretty interesting dating stories, but this has got to be at the top of weirdest ones.” Zayn chimed in.

They were at Central Perk, again. To be fair, they were here almost every day, whenever they had any free time. Also sometimes when they were supposed to be working, but that was none of anyone’s business. It was pretty convenient after all, seeing as Harry, Liam, _and_ Zayn lived right above it. Also, it was pretty cheap, and seeing as they were all renting apartments in the centre of New York City and they didn’t have the best-paying jobs, they really couldn’t afford anything else. So, they had to do with this. To be fair, it was a lovely place. They had their own usual spot, and at almost all times at least one of them could be found here. That also meant the personnel knew them pretty well, which meant Harry didn’t need her love life to be talked about so loudly. She’d like to be able to show her face here again in the future, thank you very much Niall.

“Well, for one, you could have woken her up, made her feel so guilty about falling asleep, that she’d pay for your dinner. I mean, what did you even get out of this? Nothing!!” Niall always got very worked up over Harry’s dating life. It was sweet, if she were honest. But also annoying. Because Harry hasn’t had the best luck with dating these last few years. She thought coming back to New York would do wonders. Lots of girls, probably lots of queer girls, but as it turned out, none that wanted to date Harry. Or at least, she hadn’t found one yet. 

Harry raised her brows at Niall. Sometimes, she wondered why they were friends. Not really, because she loved her friends to death, but they had a lot of differencing opinions. “An experience? Another girl to cross off my potential dating list?”

“H, please tell me you don’t have an actual dating list.” Zayn whined.

Harry turned her head to look at Zayn, who was the innocence of relaxation. Sitting in the relaxing chair, she just looked straight at her. “Of course I don’t, you dolt. What would that even be? Just a list of fucking every girl in New York City who happens to like girls, by the way how would I even manage to draft such a list? It would take me months, Z, actual months! And then I could just cross out everyone who doesn’t like me. Way to let me lose hope, I guess.” Harry sounded mad, but she wasn’t actually mad. She hoped they knew that. They just wanted her to succeed, seeing as no one else was actively pursuing a dating life. She was starting to suspect that Niall just didn’t want anyone, as she couldn’t remember the last time she had actually seen her with someone else. Zayn was so madly in love with Liam she wouldn’t let herself look at any other woman, even if she was still denying it, and Liam was currently dating Janice. But, Harry still firmly believed she liked Zayn back, but she was just a coward. So, they only had Harry to pester about a dating life. 

“I’m sorry…” She sighed. “I’m not mad, I’m just sick of all the dating. Why can’t I just skip past that and go straight to marrying a girl who actually likes me?” Harry whined. She put her head on Liam’s shoulder and tried to think of something other than girls. 

“What the fuck, how does that just happen to you?” Zayn exclaimed, looking around with wild eyes.

“What is it, Z?” Harry was tired and just wanted to go home. Apparently that wasn’t an option.

“I think you have to see this for yourself. Look at the girl that just walked in.”

Everyone turned their heads towards the door. And. Harry was going to faint. She was sure of that. The girl that just walked in, looked like an actual angel. The sunlight was streaming in through the windows, and she looked gorgeous. Her hair was long, her make-up was done, and she was wearing a dress. Not just a regular dress, but a wedding dress. Which… was wet. When Harry took a good look at her, she could see that the girl was also soaking wet. _Huh, guess it was raining outside_. So, she also looked like a drowning cat, but honestly, Harry could look past that. 

The fact that she was in a wedding dress when it was currently freezing outside, made Harry worry though. _Was she cold? Did she need some clothes? Harry was wearing a sweater, the girl could have hers. Would she need a towel? A shower? Harry lived right upstairs, she could provide all that for her_. Before she could voice any of those thoughts out loud, the girl opened her mouth and started talking, while looking around at everyone inside the café. 

“Harry? Harry Styles?”

“This _has_ to be a joke!” Zayn exclaimed. “H, what are you waiting for? Go talk to her!”

Harry was frozen in place. Someone had to be pulling her leg. There was no way a beautiful girl like that just walked in, looking for her. 

“Hey, is there a Harry Styles here? I was told this is where she spends a lot of her time and I really need to talk to her.” They heard the girl ask Gunther, at the bar. 

“Yeah, she’s right there. The one in the white top.”

Pretty girl was walking up to her. Pretty girl in a wedding dress was walking her way and Harry was still frozen in place. _Get your shit together, H!_

The girl was now standing in front of the table, looking at her. “Hey, really sorry to bother you, but you’re Harry right? Harry Styles?” 

Niall punched Harry in her right arm. “Ouch! What the fuck?!” It did work to bring her back to earth, so she looked at the girl, who, now she actually really looked at her, looked very familiar, but she couldn’t place her, yet. “Hi! Yes I am!”

“I don’t know if you remember me, but I’m Louis Tomlinson. We used to go to high school together…” 

“Oh my god, Louis?! I thought you looked familiar but in no way would I have been able to recognise you!” Harry stood up to walk over to Louis to properly greet her. After their hug, she made space for Louis to sit on the sofa.

“Guys, this is Louis, as you probably had already figured out by now. We used to go to high school together.” Harry felt a little awkward, but she couldn’t place her finger on why that was. 

Louis looked around the room and suddenly very shyly introduced herself. “Hi, it’s nice to meet you all. Sorry for just hijacking your hangout.”

Niall immediately shook her head. “No way, you didn’t hijack anything. Someone walking into the cafe while wearing a wedding dress is the most exciting thing that’s happened here in weeks. I’m Niall, by the way. That one is Liam and the other one is Zayn.” 

“Hi!” Liam and Zayn chimed together. “So, how do you know old Harriet over here?” 

“Not my name!” 

“Whatever.” Liam joked. “Yeah Louis, how _do_ you know Harry?”

“Not the most interesting story. We met in high school, gravitated towards each other due to the fact we were like the only two queer kids in the whole school, became best friends for years, lost contact when I moved away for uni and Harry went to the UK. Haven’t really seen each other since.” Louis had a look on her face that Harry couldn’t quite place. Melancholy? Sadness? She didn’t know what it was, but what Harry did know, was that she wanted that sad look gone from Louis’ face.

“Wait, best friends? Not to be mean, but we’ve never heard your name before.”

“Yeah, sorry about that.” Harry winced while she looked at her friends. “It just, high school wasn’t the greatest place, for any of us I think, and I changed a lot during uni. So, when I came back to NYC, I just decided to start fresh.”

“So, what brings you to the city? I’m guessing it has something to do with you wearing that wedding dress.”

“Funny story. Well, not like haha-funny, more like aahh-funny. It’s my wedding day today. Actually, I should’ve been married already. Turns out, you can be with someone for five years and only find out you don’t actually love them when you’re supposed to be reading your vows to them.”

Harry looked at Louis wide-eyed. “You just walked away? While you were at the altar?” 

Louis had trouble maintaining eye contact, so she just looked at the empty coffee cup that was on the table in front of her. “I mean, yeah? What else could I have done? I wasn’t going to marry him and then get divorced five days later.”

“Makes sense. But, just curious, why did you come here?” Niall asked.

Louis developed a light pink blush on her cheek and looked around the cafe, without looking anyone in the eyes. “I just, I needed somewhere to go. And seeing as almost everyone we know was at the wedding already, there wasn’t a lot of choice left.” Louis laughed, a little self-deprecatingly, while she looked at Harry, who was twisting the rings on her right hand with her other hand. 

“How did you even know I was here though? Not that I don’t like it, I’m pleasantly surprised! I just mean, we haven’t spoken in like 8 years.”

“You know aunt Lisa? Apparently she’s still in contact with your mom and she told me a few months ago. Thought it was weird to invite you to the wedding, sorry, so… here I am.” Louis smiled. “Hope this isn’t too straight forward!”

“Of course not!” Harry looked around the room, and then back at Louis. “I mean, I have a spare room, if you want, you can stay with me.” Harry said sheepishly. “You don’t have to of course! Maybe you have plans, maybe you want to go back, I don’t know…” Harry added on.

“Really? I don’t want to impose.”

“You’re fine! Really. It’d be nice to have a friend around.”

“Hey, what about us? We live right opposite you.” Liam was shocked.

“Yeah, with how much you’re over at my place, you might as well live there.”

“Don’t act like you don’t love it!” Zayn added. 

☼ ☼ ☼

“I have to say, your apartment is so lovely. I don’t know what I expected, but this certainly wasn’t it.”

“What? Why not? Are you assuming I was messy in high school?”

Louis laughed. “No way! You were the most organised person in the whole school.”

“I’m going to take that as a compliment.”

“As you should.”

“Here, let me show you to your room. I’m sorry it’s a little messy, but I haven’t had anyone to stay here in months, and you didn’t exactly prepare me for your arrival.”

“Shit, Haz, if it’s too much of a hassle, I’ll go stay at a hotel. It’s fine!”

Harry quickly backtracked. “No!” She blushed. “I mean, that’s not what I meant. I’m really excited for you to stay actually.” 

“So! Show me my humble abode, young Harriet!”

Harry gave her a quick tour of the apartment, which was very decently sized for a New York-city one. She immediately started apologising, seeing as she hadn’t bothered to clean for a few days, which she was not starting to regret massively. 

“You think this is messy? You should’ve seen my home!”

Harry blushed. “Thank you. So, you can stay here as long as you want. As you’ve seen, I have more than enough space, and it would actually be really nice to share it with someone.”

“I’m impressed H, this is a pretty big apartment, especially in the middle of NYC! You must be getting paid well.”

“Ah, long story.”

“Hmm, well Styles, I want to hear it some day.”

“Hey, if you want, we can go to IKEA in the next couple of days. I needed a new sofa anyway and maybe we could get some things to make it feel more like a home for you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, absolutely! We’ll go tomorrow?”

“It’s a plan!”

After they had put a list together of all the basic items they wanted to get, Harry realised she actually knew very little about Louis, especially about these last few years, and she was ready to change that.

“So, Lou, what happened to you after high school?”

“Remember how I didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do?”

Harry nodded. 

“Yeah, I still don’t. I did some bartending jobs for a while, did go to college to get my teaching degree, but then I met Alex and I kind of never pursued it.”

“Do you have a job now? Do you still want to become a teacher?”

“No, to be honest I haven’t really worked since I met Alex. He didn’t like it, which, how did I not see that red flag?!, and so I didn’t do it. I think I’d like to become a teacher, but not sure in what department.”

“Well, we can figure that out together!”

“So, how did you end up here?”

“After finishing university, I worked at a couple of different restaurants around London. But then one of my managers offered me the job as head chef in his new restaurant in New York. I obviously couldn’t say no, so, here I am.”

“Wow, that must’ve been a big decision.”

“Yeah, but I was pretty ready for it. I wanted to go back to the States anyway, and this seemed like a good enough time to do it. Anyway, I ended up at this apartment, met Liam and Zayn, and Niall, and the rest is history.”

“Hey, what’s up with them, by the way? Liam and Zayn.”

“Ah, isn’t that the age old question. If you ask Liam, he’ll say nothing is going on. Zayn is pining after Liam but Liam is oblivious as fuck. If you ask me, they’re both totally in love with each other, but too afraid to admit it. Liam’a dating Janice actually, but that’ll end, sooner or later.”

“Wow, you’re pretty confident about all of that.”

“I mean, why wouldn’t I? I’ve known these boys for like six years and it’s painfully obvious to everyone who spends more than ten minutes with them, except to themselves. They’ll get there though.”

“Hey, what if we give them a push in the right direction? Not messing with Liam's relationship of course, but you know.”

“Louis Tomlinson, are you saying you want to meddle in someone’s relationship?”

“Hell yes.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“Zaaayn, help meeee.”

Zayn sighed. “I’ve said it a million times, just break up with her.”

“But how? You know I’m the absolute worst at that.” Liam whined.

“Text her. It’s really not that hard.”

“What do I say?”

“Hey Janice, we had a good run, but I’m sorry to say it’s just not working out.”

“Just like that?”

“Just. Like. That. Here, give me your phone and I’ll even draft up the message for you.”

“No, no way. I’ll do it myself. Tonight. I can’t do it immediately after getting home from the date.”

“How was that by the way?”

Liam sighed and dramatically fell down onto the sofa. “Terrible. So boring. We just went out to have dinner and she just wouldn’t stop talking. Would. Not. I mean, I think I got two sentences in there and we were there for like two hours. I can’t do it anymore.”

“So. Break up with her.”

“Soon, I will! I promise.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“But this one is so much prettieeer.” Louis whined.

They had been at IKEA for at least two hours and they hadn’t agreed on a single item yet.

“But Lou, it’s not so much about prettiness as it is about functionality.”

“Prettiness?”

“You know what I mean, Lou. The sofa should be big and comfy and if it’s pretty… well then that’s just another bonus.” 

“Hmm interesting. I remember a specific someone saying we should get some things to make it feel more like a home to me. And this sofa will make the apartment feel like home.”

“Lou! It’s bright red!” Harry screeched.

Louis bursted out laughing. “Chill H, I’m just messing with you. I wouldn’t be so daft as to get an actual red sofa. But, I did like the first one we looked at.”

“The first?! That was like two hours ago!” Harry couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Louis was a friend, sure, but right now she was a damn annoying one.

“Yeah, I think it’ll look quite nicely in the apartment. Plus, it’s big!”

“We’ll take another look. But, if it isn’t the one, then I’m picking the one I wanted!” Harry was already taking off towards the first section of sofas. 

“So bossy.” Louis muttered under her breath. She wasn’t exactly annoying, but Louis did find it fun to see how Harry had grown the last couple of years. When she left for the UK, Harry barely knew how to stand up for herself. And here she was, almost yelling, in the middle of IKEA, because she didn’t like the sofa Louis picked out. 

After they had decided on the first sofa, they walked through the rest of IKEA.

“Hey H, didn’t you need some new cabinets?”

“ _We_ , Lou. We need new cabinets.”

“Fine, we need new cabinets. How about these ones?”

“What! No! All the cabinets are wood and we’re not suddenly getting white ones.”

“Alright, alright. But then I want these ones!”

“Ooh these _are_ cute, let’s get them.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“You just gotta turn a little bit more!” Harry couldn’t believe this is where they had ended up. 

“H, if I take one more step, I’m going to have to climb up the wall. I'm stuck here.”

“That’s not possible! I thought you said it would fit.”

“No, that’s not what I said. I said I _thought_ it would fit. That distinction is very important here.” 

“Lou! What are we gonna do?”

“Can’t one of your manly friends help us out here? I mean one of them should be able to figure out how to get this damn sofa up the stairs.” Louis was sure she was going to pass out. She was still stuck in between the wall and the sofa and she didn’t know how long she could stay there. 

“Don’t know who these manly friends are you’re talking about, but I’ll call Liam.”

Harry took out her phone and called Liam, but not before they had moved the sofa down the stairs again and put it down on the floor, so Louis could breathe again. “Leemo! We desperately need you downstairs. We’re helpless and we don’t know how to keep going so it would be great if you could come and save us.”

“What’s up? Didn’t you guys go to IKEA?”

“Yes we did, and that is exactly what caused this problem. If you could be a dear and come downstairs, you can see for yourself what the problem is.”

Two minutes later Liam had joined them, and she didn’t look very optimistic. “You have got to be kidding me.”

“Truly wish we were. Can you help us?”

“I mean, I don’t think it’s gonna fit anyway.”

“We have to try!” Harry was very close to begging at this point.

“You two are both idiots and this is never going to work.” Liam sighed.

“Not with that attitude. Come on Leemo, you take that side and we’ll take this one. We’ll just rotate slowly, while you walk up the stairs and then hopefully we can get it to turn.” Louis tried to keep her enthusiasm, but she didn’t have very much left.

“We won’t, but fine. We’ll try it.”

Turns out, that was easier said than done. They tried it every single way. There was no way they were getting this sofa up the stairs. 

“You two are literally the biggest idiots I have ever met.” Liam looked from Harry to Louis and back to Harry. He rolled his eyes and plopped down onto the sofa.

“We were so sure it was going to fit! It’s not that big, and the stairs seemed so much wider in my head.” Louis whined.

“I mean, you have to be kidding me. You go to IKEA, the homeware store where the whole concept of the store is to literally put together your own shit, and you two managed to come home with like the _only_ sofa that comes as a whole. Who thought _that_ was a good idea?”

“Hm, I hadn’t thought of that yet. Also, it was Louis’ idea!” Harry immediately pointed to Louis, who was sitting on the stairs. 

“What the fuck?! Why are you just ratting me out like that?” Louis looked at Harry incredulously.

“It was! Plus you liked it because it was big. Ergo, your fault.”

“I hate you. I’m moving out.” Louis joked.

“No you're not. We just bought a shitload of stuff for the apartment and I’m not letting you leave now.”

Louis took a deep sigh, pretending to be annoyed. “Fine, I guess I’ll stay. But, what are we doing about the sofa?” She directed her question mostly at Liam, because she seemed like the most responsible one in this case.

“I don’t want to ruin your illusion, but I’m pretty sure you’re gonna have to get a different one. Or we could see if someone is willing to get it in through the window, but that might be difficult, seeing as we’re in NYC and we’re literally on the fourth floor.” Liam grimaced.

It actually sounded like a really good idea, Harry thought. Surely there must be a company in the city who was willing to do that for them? “You know what? I’m going to give some people a call, there must be a company out there that’s like specialised in high story buildings.”

“Do whatever you wanna do H, I’m getting a coffee. Liam, care to join me?” Louis held out her harm for her to grab onto. 

“Well, I cannot refuse such a lovely offer. Off we go!” 

Harry hated her friends. They were embarrassing. And the worst. 

She wanted to start complaining about how mean her friends were, but she actually loved them dearly, and she had some things to fix. She didn’t know where she was going to find someone willing to move the sofa, but she knew she wasn’t stopping till she got it done.

☼ ☼ ☼

“Hey Li! What are you doing?” Harry had just walked into Liam’ and Zayn’s apartment, and it looked like a pigsty. There were clothes all over the floor and Liam was currently moving her suitcase from her bedroom to the living room.

“I have to pack my bags!” Liam was freaking out. She was running around like she was in a hurry, and was just blindly throwing everything into her suitcase.

“Hey, slow down. Why do you have to pack? I didn’t know you were going somewhere.”

“I wasn’t planning to! But then Janice called, asked me to come home to meet her family. Which, I can’t of course.” She looked at Harry like she had just asked a very stupid question, even though she hadn’t said a word. “So, I panicked and said I couldn’t come in the near future, because work has me moving to Yemen! So now I gotta go to Yemen.”

“What the fuck?” Harry honestly couldn’t believe her ears.

“I booked a flight online, it leaves in like two hours and I have no clue what I’m doing. I’m stressed, H, stressed!” She grabbed onto Harry’s arms and wouldn’t let go.

“Okay. Calm down. Take a breath.” Liam did as instructed. “Do you really want to go to Yemen or do you want us to come up with a different excuse?”

Liam looked at Harry like she had truly gone insane. “H. I’ve thought of literally every other option, and there is not a single scenario in which I don’t have to go to Yemen. So, I’m going to Yemen.”

☼ ☼ ☼

Janice had made it extremely clear to Liam that she would see her off at the airport, so an hour later, there they were. Liam was secretly still trying to think of any last resort, just so she wouldn’t have to actually go, but she wasn’t any closer to figuring something out. So, looks like she was actually going to Yemen. At least it was warmer there, and it wouldn’t be snowing.

“Hey babe?”

“Yeah?”

“Do you know when you’ll be back?” 

Liam wasn’t the biggest fan of lying, but some things just had to happen. “I’m really sorry, they didn’t give me a time. They just said I had to go for an indefinite amount of time.” She tried to look sad, but honestly she was a little relieved to be getting away from Janice. It wasn’t like she wasn’t a nice person, she honestly was fine, but she was just so _annoying_. She never stopped talking, the voice was honest to god the worst thing anyone had ever heard, and she wouldn’t leave her alone. Plus, Liam was the worst person in the world when it came to breaking up with someone, so it wasn’t like she could just do that. 

Janice looked _so sad_ , but Liam wasn’t going to suddenly change her plans. She was a coward, she was going to Yemen to avoid breaking up with her girlfriend and she was determined to go through with it. “Okay. Promise me you’ll call?”

That, Liam could do. “I will. Several times a week. I’ll call you so much, you’ll get sick of me.” _Hopefully_. 

That made Janice smile. “Never. I’d never get sick of you.”

“Same.” Liam hated herself. She was the worst person alive. “Hey, I really do have to go. I’ll call you as soon as I’ve landed.” They shared one last kiss, and then Liam was off. To Yemen. When she went through security, Liam realised her plan might not have been that great. For one, what the fuck was she going to do there? Secondly, she didn’t even think of booking a hotel. _Smart one, Payne._ _Ah, she’d figure it out_. 

Before Liam knew it, her flight was being called. She could board the plane, ready to go to Yemen. While she stood in line, she came to the conclusion she definitely wasn’t sane. _Who the fuck is such a coward she can’t just break up with her girlfriend in a normal way, but instead decides to go to the other side of the world, without having a place to stay or a job? You, dumbass._ Liam looked around, while trying to carry her bags and walk at the same time, and saw an old lady walking in front of her. _How weird would it be to ask her? Too weird Payne, too weird._

 _Fuck it, I’m doing it anyway_.

“When we get to Yemen, can I stay with you?”

☼ ☼ ☼

“So, Liam is a fucking idiot.” Niall walked into Harry and Louis’ apartment and sat down next to Harry, on their new sofa. It had taken Harry a good few hours to convince someone to come help her move the sofa up four flights of stairs, but she found someone in the end, and she was so glad she did. It was so much better than the older one, so the hard work had definitely been worth it.

“Well yeah, but we already knew that. The question is, how are we going to solve that?” Louis walked from out of her bedroom and joined them in the living room.

“Let’s hope that Liam finally breaks up with Janice, so that we’ll be one step closer.” Harry …

“One step closer to what?” Niall chimed in.

“To getting Liam and Zayn together?”

Niall whipped her head around so fast, you’d have thought someone just punched through a window. “Liam? And Zayn? Together?” She couldn’t stop looking at Harry, then back at Louis, then back at Harry.

Harry and Louis looked at each other from where they were sitting and exchanged a look as if to say ‘really, Niall?’. “Yeah. They love each other. But they’re both too much of a coward to do something about it, so Louis and I have decided to take matters into our own hands.” Harry couldn’t help but smile at that. She was sure they’d have a lot of fun.

“I want in!” 

So. They had an actual team now. They only needed to figure out how to actually get them together.

☼ ☼ ☼

“Hello my loves, I’m home!!” Liam walked into the apartment, while still carrying all her bags.

“Hey dumbass, how was Yemen?” 

“Really fun, actually! The weather was a lot better than here. I wore a dress, _a dress_! In the beginning of December! I stayed with this lovely old lady, and she showed me all around Sana’a, and it was so interesting.”

Zayn couldn’t help but laugh at that. “And where did you find this old lady?”

“At the airport actually. See, I was so nervous and had declared myself the biggest idiot…” 

Liam launched into this whole big story about her trip, which actually turned out to be really great. She talked for a good half hour about everything she had seen and the people she had met, before she even mentioned Janice, the whole reason she was in Yemen in the first place.

“So, there I was, road tripping through Yemen with my new friends, when Janice called. So, you know me, I freaked out.”

“Glad you are realising your own flaws as well now.”

“Hey, don’t be mean!” 

“Just telling the truth, Leemo.” Niall sighed.

“Well, okay, fine. There I was, being a dumbass. But you know, I had no reason not to answer. What could she do? I was on the other side of the world, right? But I stopped being a coward and I did it.”

All four of them were looking at Liam expectantly, waiting for her to continue.

“Yeah?”

“I broke up with her! Finally!”

Within a second, all four of them were on top of Liam. lightly smothering her. It wasn’t like they didn’t like Janice, but they were glad she was gone. She was indeed quite annoying, and they could see that Liam wasn’t really that happy with her. Plus, this was a big step for Liam. 

“Get off of me! I need to breathe!” Liam joked, while at the same time she was actually really glad to have these amazing friends.

“Fine.” Louis sighed, while getting off of her. She didn’t move far away though, she just sat down right next to Liam, while Zayn sat on her other side and Harry and Niall slid down onto the ground.

“So, what now?”

“I’m lonely.”

“Really?” Harry and Louis shared a look.

“Yeah. It’s not like I want to jump right back into a relationship, mind you, but I think I’d like to date a bit. I haven’t been single for real in over six years, so it’s… strange. Nice, but strange.” Liam sighed.

Zayn piped up from her left side. “I can set you up on a date.”

Harry and Louis whipped their heads, looking right at Zayn, not believing what she had just said. “You can do _what_?”

“Set her up. I have some single friends who I’m pretty sure are into Liam.”

“Really? You’d do that for me?” Liam was starting to develop a not so little blush on her cheeks. 

“Wait!” Niall piped in. “Why don’t we have some fun?”

“Fun like?” Harry didn’t know where Niall was going with this, and she wasn’t sure yet if she was going to like it.

“Zayn has been single for quite a long time. So, why don’t H, Lou and I find some cute girls for you, and you both can double date?”

Brilliant. Incredible Niall. What did Harry do in her life to deserve a friend like her?

Liam and Zayn shared a look. “What do you say? Are you up for it?”

“Sure.”

☼ ☼ ☼

Harry was exhausted. She had been at work all day, and was so ready to crash onto the sofa and not move for the rest of the evening. Except, when she opened the door to their apartment, the sofa was gone. Well no, it was there, but it was almost invisible due to all the pieces of paper scattered on top of it.

“Lou?”

“Yeah!” She piped up from somewhere on the floor, which was also covered in paper.

“Are you alright?”

“Yeah! Why?” She didn’t sound alright. She was breathless, and she looked like she hadn’t slept for three days.

“Nothing. What ya doing?”

“Writing my resume. Plus, looking for a job.”

“And you need... the whole fucking forest to do that?”

“I’m a perfectionist!”

Harry slowly walked up to her, trying not to scare her, because it honestly looked like Louis was two seconds away from attacking her. “Hey, Lou. Come here, sit down.”

Surprisingly, Louis actually listened to her. She sat down, and closed her eyes for a bit. About two minutes later, she opened them again, and looked at Harry and smiled. Not a big smile, just a tiny one, with her eyes sparkling and the corners of her mouth just slightly turning upwards. “Hey.” She almost whispered.

“Hey you. You alright?”

“Yeah, better now. What’s up?”

“Would you like some help?”

“Hmh, maybe. That does sound good.”

Harry turned sideways, so she was sitting on the sofa, fully facing Louis. “So, tell me a bit more. What do you want to do? Any ideas?”

“Honestly? You want to hear it? I may not stop talking about it if I start.”

“Lou, I’d love to. I wanna know more about you.” Harry suddenly realised she didn’t know that much about Louis, even though they had been living together for a few weeks now. Sure, she knew her back in high school, but they were both different now. It wasn’t like they never spoke now, because they talked all the time, but not that much about things like this. Harry told her all about what she had been up to in the UK and what happened since she moved back to NYC. She told her about her family and her friends. Louis kind of rushed through the Alex-part of her story, but Harry got the gist. She did tell her all about her siblings back home, and that even though she felt it was a good thing that she hadn’t seen her family yet, she did miss them dearly.

“Remember how I told you I got my degree to go into teaching?”

Harry nodded. She did remember that. She just didn’t know why Louis never pursued it.

“Yeah. I still want to do that. I’d love to teach kids. The idea of having an impact on them in any way, or just being a safe place for them to go to, that sounds incredible. I think I realised it growing up, just helping my siblings or taking care of them, just anything. Alex never really wanted me to have a job, so after I got my degree, I just didn’t do anything with it.”

“Ah, Alex. I have to be honest, I always forget you were supposed to be married right now.” Harry blushed. She couldn’t imagine it, seeing as she was nowhere near ready to get married. Sure, she’d love a relationship right now, but married? No thank you.

Louis couldn’t help but laugh at that. “Yeah, you’re not the only one. Can you imagine, me being married?”

“Glad you got out of that.” Harry almost whispered. She didn’t know why, but it didn’t feel right to say it out loud.

“Yeah, me too.” 

After they just stared at each other for a little too long, Harry shook herself out of it.

“So. Teaching kids. Any particular subject?”

“English, I think. I always loved it growing up, and I feel like it’s so important to understand your language well, I’d love to help them.”

“I think you’d do really well at it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, of course. But to be honest, I think you’d do well at everything.”

“H!” Louis almost felt embarrassed, but she also was not saying no to a compliment, especially one from Harry.

“I’m serious Lou.”

“Well, thank you. Right back at ya.”

“Let me help you write your resume.” Harry couldn’t help but offer.

“Really? You’d do that? It’s not that impressive, you know.”

“That’s okay, we’ll figure it out.”

“Yeah?” Louis smiled.

“Yeah, together.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“So, two teams. Harry and Louis versus Liam and Zayn.” Niall mentioned.

“Yeah, the dream team!” Harry and Louis yelled at the same time.

“Calm down, we’re going to smash you!” Liam yelled back.

“All right, all right. Let’s keep it civil.”

It was Friday night, and they were playing Jeopardy. Friday night game night had become somewhat of a tradition, and now that they were with five people, they could finally have two decent teams and one host. Being Niall, she offered to be the presenter immediately. So, here they were, ready to play.

“Liam and Zayn, come up here. I’ve got your first question.”

They got up from the sofa and stood next to Niall, who completely looked the part. She even made flashcards for herself, even though she was the one who made up all the questions. 

“What was Harry’s first job, from when she was thirteen until she was sixteen?”

“Wait! We know this. H wouldn't stop talking about it the first year after we met.” Zayn exclaimed happily.

“So, what is it?”

“A supermarket! Wait no, that wasn’t it. What the fuck, you wouldn’t stop talking about it and now I can’t remember.” Zayn sighed sadly.

“What’s the answer you’re going for, gals?”

“Let’s say a supermarket.”

“A supermarket? That is……… incorrect, I’m sorry. It was actually a bakery!!”

“Yeah, I used to be a baker.”

Louis couldn’t help but laugh at that. “H, you, a baker? Is that what you’ve been telling everyone?”

“That’s what I was!” Harry started pouting and Louis almost felt sorry for her. Almost.

“You worked behind the till, you dork.”

“You made me believe you were a star baker at thirteen for multiple years, only for me to find out years later you were a cashier?” 

“Hey! I never said I was a _star_ baker, I only said baker.” Harry tried to defend herself, but honestly, it was a moo point.

“She’d better not, because she sucked at baking at like fourteen.”

“Mean.” Harry tried to look upset, but honestly she thought it was pretty funny.

“Well, we have learned from this that H is a huge liar and we can never trust anything she says ever again.”

“I don’t like any of you.” Harry joked.

“We know.” Niall couldn’t help but point out.

“Next question! Louis and Harry, get up here.”

Harry and Louis exchanged places with Liam and Zayn and they were so ready to win.

“What was the first thing Zayn bought her mum when she started making money?”

“How are we supposed to know that?!” Louis whined.

“Hey, I have definitely told you. H, you should know.”

“I… have no clue. I feel so bad.”

“Ha! We get a point!” Liam yelled out.

“It was… a house!!”

“What? Z, you bought your mum a house? That’s so sweet.”

Zayn started blushing so badly you’d think someone just professed her love for her. Well, that’s basically what Liam did, even if both of them don’t know it yet. 

“Yeah, yeah, very sweet. Let’s get moving people. We are nowhere near done yet!” As it turns out, Niall is very competitive, even when she isn’t playing.

“Okay, next question. As we all know, Liam is a social media dumbass. But, she has some golden moments. So, which of the following has Liam _not_ tweeted?

i’m a fancy candle

i am the flashing toothbrush master

i am a snake”

“What the fuck, Li?” You’re weird.” Harry couldn’t help but laugh.

“Yeah, yeah, we know. But, do _you_ know which one I haven’t said?”

Harry and Louis stared at each other, and shared one of their weird looks. “c. i am a snake.” They said at the same time.

“What the fuck? _How_ did you do that?” Liam couldn’t believe it. She knew they had some sort of weird telepathy thing going, but this was on a whole new level.

“We’re the dream team.” They exclaimed, once again both at the same time.

“Stop doing that!”

“Yeah, yeah, we know. Liam is weird, Louis and Harry have some strange form of communication going, Zayn, what’s your issue?”

“I never learned how to love.”

“Fair. Next question. Liam and Z, it’s your turn. This may be a hard one. We all know that Louis’ big on theatrics, but when she was in high school, what character did she play in her final performance?”

“For the life of me, I don’t have a clue.”

Zayn sighed and looked at Liam. “Me neither.”

Harry shot her hand up into the air. “I know! I know! Can I answer?”

“Well, it looks like neither Li nor Z knows the answer, so sure.”

“Danny from Grease!!” Harry started smiling a really wide smile and couldn’t help but look at Louis while she said it.

Louis looked back at her, with some sort of awe written all over her face. “How did you know?”

“Lou, we were in high school together. Of course I knew.” Harry whispered.

“Yeah, but that was like fifteen years ago.”

“I’m sorry to interrupt your weird love fest thingy going on, but I think we’re skipping over the more important question here. Lou, you played _Danny_?” Liam couldn’t help but ask.

Louis looked at Liam proudly. “And what a great job I did. Some boy was supposed to play Danny, but the night before, he got horribly sick so they needed a substitute… and seeing as I’ve seen Grease over twenty times, I was the most obvious choice. Plus, I rock a leather jacket.”

“Yeah you do.” Harry couldn’t help but chime in. 

☼ ☼ ☼

“I. Hate. Winter.” Louis walked into Central Perk, shaking off the snow that had gathered on her coat. 

“Lou, you know it’s not even officially winter yet? The meteorological winter doesn’t even start till the 21st.” Liam chimed in, while she looked awfully cosy wearing a very thick sweater.

“Yeah yeah, smartass. Why don’t you go make yourself useful and get me a tea?” Louis smiled, knowing she’d get her way, like always. It wasn’t like she did this all the time, but she knew it came in handy sometimes.

After Liam had returned with Louis’ tea, _god bless her_ , Louis finally started to heat up a bit.

“Hey, we’re all here right?” Harry asked, while looking around if they were missing anyone.

“Yeah, what’s up?”

“So. I was just wondering what everyone’s plans for Christmas are this year?” 

At the same time, everyone sighed very loudly. 

“I think I’m skipping Christmas this year. There is no way I can show my face yet after the wedding, and to be fair I don’t even really want to see them yet.” Louis replied, a little bit sadly. She loved her family to death, but she wasn’t ready to face them yet. She had spoken to her mum and siblings over the phone multiple times, but seeing them in person was a whole different ball game. 

“I’m staying here. My parents are on a cruise somewhere and my sisters are with their respective partners.” Zayn chimed in. It wasn’t like she was sad she wasn’t on the cruise, because she honestly wasn’t. It would just be different this year, seeing as she could count the amount of times she spent Christmas without her family on one hand. 

Liam looked around at her friends. “Mine are all visiting family on the west coast, but I can’t stand them, so I passed for the first time. Guess I’m staying here as well.” 

“Well I know Niall is also staying here, seeing as her family is skiing somewhere and she’d rather be dead than be caught on ski’s. So. I have an idea.” Harry couldn’t help but smile. She also wasn’t visiting her own family this year, seeing as they were all scattered around somewhere and couldn’t find the time where everyone could make it. So, she had come up with a plan, and it would work out perfect, seeing as everyone was staying in New York. “Why don’t you all come over and I’ll make a delicious Christmas meal?”

“You’re serious? You’re ready to make dinner for five people?” Louis was amazed, like she was quite often when it came to Harry. It was hard not to be though, seeing as it was _Harry_. 

“Yeah! I cook for a living anyway, so I know what I’m doing. I’m probably gonna need some help from you all, though.”

“That’s fine. I’m in.”

“Me too!”

Louis looked like she wanted to say something, and after a while, she got there. “Hey. If you don’t mind, I’d love to make dessert. I owe all you guys so much for letting me just barge in on your friend group and inviting me with open arms. Especially you, H. We hadn’t seen each other for years, and you just let me stay with you. So, let me do this for you, please?” 

Harry shrugged. “Sure. But you know you don’t need to thank us, right?” Harry looked her straight into the eyes. “No, no arguments. I can’t wait for your dessert though.” There she was, smiling that awfully adorable smile again. Louis had to watch out. 

☼ ☼ ☼

“H, I don’t know if I can take any more. You’ve outdone yourself.”

“Well yeah, you would’ve figured that out sooner if you ever came to visit me at the restaurant.”

“That place is way too fancy for us.”

“Yeah, yeah, I know. So, do you have some room left? You gotta have some room for Lou’s incredible dessert.”

“Do you even know what it is?” Liam couldn’t help but wonder.

“Nope. She wouldn’t even let me come near it.” Harry pouted at that. She was so excited about Louis making something and she was way too curious to find out what, but Louis hadn’t budged yet. 

“Speaking of the devil,”

Louis walked into the apartment, with a very big dish in her hand. She had been so secretive, she had ordered Liam and Zayn into her and Harry’s apartment at the end of the morning so she could use their kitchen without anyone spying on her. “So, are you ready?”

“Are we finally allowed to know what it is?” Zayn laughed and Niall couldn’t help but join in.

“Ha, ha. Very funny. But yes. So, I recreated a British dish. A trifle, made up of ladyfingers, jam, custard, which I made from scratch, raspberries, more ladyfingers, beef sauteed with peas and onions, more custard then bananas and some whipped cream on top.” Harry honestly didn’t think she had ever seen Louis smile that big, and she was not the one to break her heart.

Everyone, except for Louis, looked around at each other, and Harry had a strong feeling they all knew what everyone was thinking. 

“Hey Lou?” Niall asked in the end.

“Yeah?”

“What’s with the beef?”

“Weird, right? I thought it was strange, seeing as it’s a dessert, but I thought, must be a british thing, right H?”

There was no way Harry was not going to lie right now. “Yeah, it is. Brits, weird, you know how they are.” Harry hated herself. She was going to hell.

“Well, who wants to have the first taste?”

“Give it to Harry! She knows the British way, she should have the first piece.”

“Good point.”

“Hey Z?” 

“Yeah?” 

“I’m going to kill you.” Harry whispered a little too loudly.

Before she knew it, Harry had a piece of the trifle ( _was it actually a trifle? Could you still call it that?_ ) on her plate, and she couldn’t get out of it anymore. She tried to think of happy things, things that made her forget about what she was about to eat. It wasn’t like she _knew_ it was going to taste bad, no, she knew that, she just hoped it wasn’t so bad that she had to lie to Louis again. She didn’t know if she could do that.

The first taste was… horrible. Worse than Harry had ever imagined. The ladyfingers and bananas had been warmed up from the beef, but it was still so cool that it was very much uncomfortable, and the whole thing together was disgusting. But, Harry already knew she was going to hell, so she figured one more little white lie couldn’t hurt, right?

“Hmm, I like it Lou, really nice. I feel like the rest should try it as well, so I’m not the only one who’s enjoying this.” If she were going down, she was taking everyone with her. Also, the smile Louis gave her made lying all worth it. Well, almost.

Soon everyone else was just trying to get one bite in, and dispose of the rest. It wasn’t going very well mind you, because Louis was watching everyone very carefully, to see how they liked it. 

“Hey, can I have a bite as well? I worked so hard on it and I haven’t even tasted it.”

 _Oh no._ “No! It’s so delicious, I want to have it all for myself!” So Harry did the only thing she could think of, which was scoop everything into her mouth as fast as she could, swallow, and not think about the taste. Which wasn’t working well, but at least her plate was empty now. She had just forgotten about one thing. The rest of them weren’t as whipped for Louis as she was. _Wow, what? Let’s think about that later, Styles_. So, of course they weren’t going to eat it all. 

“I’m sorry, I’m not doing it. I thought I could do it, but it’s too bad!” Niall cried out, while dramatically throwing herself down onto the sofa. 

“What? Is it that bad?”

Zayn immediately reached out and handed her her plate. “Take it all. I don’t want it.” 

Louis took a bite, and immediately her face turned sour. She frowned and had a hard time swallowing the food. “This. Is. The worst thing I have ever tasted. What the fuck?”

“You probably shouldn’t have added the beef, Lou. I mean, you had got to know that was a weird combo?” Liam asked.

“Yeah, but... I figured it was some strange UK thing they did over there.” Louis pouted. She honestly looked sad about it, but to be fair, it was only a dessert. 

“I mean, that would’ve been a little bit too much.”

“Shit, I’m sorry for making you all eat it.”

“Well, to be fair, H was the only one who actually finished the whole piece. The rest of us didn’t even really take the one bite.” Zayn laughed.

“Hey, that’s true.” Louis walked over to where Harry was sitting on the sofa. Harry couldn’t look her in the eyes though. It was too embarrassing. Louis had to know how she felt, even if she hadn’t really figured it out herself. “Why didn’t you tell me it was disgusting?”

Harry kept her eyes very firmly pointed at the ground. “I just... didn’t want to be mean? You worked so hard on it.”

“H, look at me.” Harry finally looked up at Louis and she was expecting Louis to be sad, at least a little disappointed. That was definitely not the look she had on her face though. She looked more… understanding. “This was. disgusting. I’ve had some bad food in the past, but this tops everything.” Louis actually started to laugh at that. She couldn’t believe that she actually made it, and worse, that Harry finished her whole plate. “Oh my god, the fact that you ate that whole thing for me, even though it’s so gross.”

“Louuuu, that’s not funny.” Harry whined.

“I mean I’m having a blast. H, this is basically the worst thing I’ve ever tasted, and you just shoved it all into your mouth like it was nothing!”

“Hey! I was just trying to be nice.” To bring her point home, Harry started pouting a little. “No need to make fun of me.” Harry had to admit, it was a little funny. Mostly stupid though, but she would never let anyone know that. 

“Not making fun of you, dork, and you know it.” Louis looked Harry in the eyes and for a second, it felt like they were the only two people in the world. That feeling didn’t last too long though, because Liam, Zayn, and Niall all started fake-coughing, so that Louis and Harry quickly broke out of whatever trance they were in.

“Alright. Now that we have declared that I am the absolute worst at cooking, does anyone want to get some ice cream?” 

“Lou.” Liam walked over to her from the table, and shook her head. “It’s Christmas. December. It’s literally freezing outside. And you want to get some ice cream?”

“Sure, why not. Who says you can only eat ice cream when it’s hot outside? It’s a stupid rule, and I’m not sticking to it. Anyone who wants to get some ice cream, follow me!”

Within a second, all of them were on their feet and walking out of the apartment, in search of ice cream. 

☼ ☼ ☼

“So. New year. New matchmaking plans.” Louis and Harry were currently sitting in Central Perk, trying to heat up from outside. It was still very much freezing and at this point, they felt like they were never warming up again. 

Harry brought the hot chocolate from the table to her lips, and took a very big sip. “Yeah, definitely. So, we’re on the same page that we’re setting Z and Li up together, right?”

“Of course, dork. What else did you think?”

Harry couldn’t help but blush at the nickname. It was a little strange, but it was a name that Louis never called anyone else, and that made Harry happy, sue her. “Nevermind. It shouldn’t be too hard. They’re getting ready together anyway, they can get to the restaurant together, and then ‘Oh no, no one else is here. What a shame. Well then I guess we’d just have to have dinner together.’”

“Did you just try to impersonate Liam? That voice was terrible. Her voice is way lower than that.” 

“Shut up. But, is that a good plan or should we tell them beforehand that their dates won’t be showing up? Do we ask someone at the restaurant to tell them?”

Louis cringed. “No way. We’re not telling them. They’ll figure it out together.” 

Harry was just about to reply, when Zayn and Niall walked in. “I’m moving to Florida. I’m done with this weather.” Niall complained.

“Great, have fun. Hey Z, your and Liam’s double date is this Friday. Be at the restaurant at 8.” 

Harry looked over at Louis, wide-eyed. They hadn’t even discussed when the date would be, or _where_ for that matter.

“Really? Can you tell me anything?” Zayn looked excited, which was nice. They hadn’t really seen Zayn excited for a date in a very, very long time. 

“Nope. You’ll just have to wait till Friday.”

☼ ☼ ☼

Before they knew it, it was Friday, and they honestly couldn’t wait anymore. Louis and Harry had filled Niall in on what had happened earlier, and ever since then, they were all on high alert. They were so scared they were going to spoil it, but luckily everything went smoothly. They helped Zayn and Liam get ready, and sent them off on their date.

☼ ☼ ☼

“You fuckers!” Liam and Zayn walked into Harry and Louis’ apartment, having just come back from their date. They both looked stunning, angry, but very pretty nonetheless.

“Well hello, how was the date?”

“You set us up! You had to know this was going to happen!”

Harry, Louis, and Niall all exchanged glances from where they were sitting on the sofa’s. “I don’t know what you are talking about.” Louis honestly tried to make it seem honest, but she didn’t think anyone believed what she was saying.

Liam walked over to the sofa, and as a reflex, everyone sat a little further away from her. She still looked a little too angry. “Did you even pick dates for us? That you later cancelled? Or did you just not find anyone and hope it worked out well?”

“Which answer would make you both less mad at us?”

“Ugh, you guys are unbelievable.” Zayn plopped down on the floor, immediately taking off her heels and lying down.

“You guys are mean. I don’t like you.”

Louis couldn’t help but lean down and ruffle her hair. “Sure you do, Zaynie. You’re just upset that we tricked you into having dinner together. But, later on you’ll realise how much fun you had and that you want to do it again, and then you’ll be thanking us.” 

“No. No way. I’m getting out of here.” She got up, took her heels with her, but stopped at the door. 

“Li, you coming?”

“Yeah, I’m not hanging around these liars anymore.” Liam was laughing while she said it, so everyone knew they weren’t all that angry after all. 

After they had closed the door, Zayn looked Liam up and down. “Wanna make out on my bed some more?” 

“You know it.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“Hello, my loves! What is happening? What’s the goss?” Harry walked into her apartment and plopped down on the sofa next to Liam. Why she was already there when it wasn’t her apartment, Harry would probably never figure out. It happened every single time, but it wasn’t like she was complaining.

“What’s put you in such a good mood?” Zayn asked while she came back inside from being on the balcony. She sat down right next to Liam, a little too close to be just friendly. _Huh_. _Interesting_.

“Well, my lovely Zayn, you see, I have a date tonight.”

“You have a date?” Niall asked, who apparently had been in the bathroom. 

“Yeah! You know that one cute coworker? Who I told you about a few months ago? Well, she finally asked me out, so we’re going to dinner.”

“You what?” Louis asked, and honestly _where did she even come from?_

“I have a date. In about three hours.” Harry couldn’t really describe the look on Louis’ face, but it surely wasn’t a happy one. 

“Oh. Well. Have fun.” And with that, Louis walked back into her room and shut her door a little too loudly. 

“What’s up with her?”

“H. Are you serious?”

“Yeah…” Harry honestly didn’t know what put Louis in such a sour mood all of a sudden, but apparently her friends did.

“Oh look at the time, I believe all three of us have appointments soon, so we should go. While _you_ Harry Styles, have to go talk to Louis.” Niall said, and grabbed both Liam and Zayn by the arms and dragged them out of their apartment. 

_Time to talk to Louis_.

Harry very quietly knocked on Louis’ door, not wanting to scare her. “Hey Lou, can I come in?”

It was quiet at first, but after a while, Louis answered. “Sure H, come in.”

When Harry walked in, she could see that Louis’ whole demeanor had changed. She was sitting on her bed and she looked sad, but there was something more. She just hadn’t figured out what that was. “Hey, what’s up?”

“Nothing. Why do you ask?” 

“I don’t know. You just. seemed upset. And you suddenly left.” Harry was actually sad when Louis walked away, seeing as spending time with Louis was her favourite, most of the time. At the minute, she wasn’t so sure, though. 

“I promise I’m not upset. I’m just tired, I guess. But I’m happy for you, H. Truly. You deserve it.” Louis almost whispered, while focusing very hard on the carpet in front of her. 

Harry took Louis’ hands in hers, and she almost swore she felt a spark. “You sure?”

“Yeah, I am.” Louis finally looked up at Harry, and Harry could spot a very tiny smile on Louis’ face. “So. A date. Tell me about her. What’s she like?”

☼ ☼ ☼

“Okay. I give up. I’m done dating and I’m going to die alone.” 

“Hello Harry, lovely to see you too. I take it your date didn’t go that well?” Niall chimed in, and _once again, where did she come from? Why was everyone always in their apartment?_

Harry fell down onto the sofa, and lied down with her head in Niall’s lap, looking up at her. Luckily Niall got the hint and started combing her hands through Harry’s hair. “No. It did not. Turns out, she wasn’t even all that interested in me. She just wanted to get her ex out of her system and thought the best way to do that would be to go on a date and then sleep with me.”

“And? You didn’t want that?”

“No Niall, I did not. She was nice, sure, but I’m looking for something more permanent. I knew it would be one and done the moment she told me about it, and that’s not what I wanted. So, I left.” Harry pouted.

“Oof, harsh, H. I’m sorry.” Louis and Liam walked over from where they had been standing on the balcony. 

“Yeah. So. No dating anymore for me. I’m staying single forever.”

“I’m sure you’ll find someone. You just have to be patient.”

“I don’t want to be patient. I want a girlfriend _now_.” Harry couldn’t help but whine. She was exaggerating a little bit, but she didn’t even care. She was lonely and she wanted a girlfriend. 

“Okay, whiny mc whine. Whatever you say.” Niall laughed.

☼ ☼ ☼

“Guess what!!!!” Louis walked inside, and put her umbrella in the stand. It may be January, it was still cold as hell and being caught in a rainstorm doesn’t really help.

“What!” Harry answered immediately. _God, she was whipped. How had Louis not caught on yet?_

“I got a job!! At a school!”

Harry jumped up and jumped into Louis’ arms. “Oh my god, Lou, I’m so proud of you, well done!!” 

“Thank you, H. I truly couldn’t have done it without you.” Harry realised their faces were suddenly very close together, but before anything could happen, Louis couldn’t handle the weight anymore and they both fell down onto the floor of the coffee shop.

“Ouch.” 

“Not my fault you’re so heavy.” Louis joked.

Harry lightly hit her on the head. “Hey! Mean.”

“Kidding.”

“So, what do you say? Should we go grab that bottle of champagne from upstairs and celebrate?”

“I wanna join! Also, congrats Lou! I knew you could do it.” _Huh, Niall was also here. Louis hadn’t even seen her when she came in._

☼ ☼ ☼

“What should we do?” Louis whispered. They had just walked into Louis’ and Harry’s apartment, but stopped right in the door opening. They didn’t have a full view, but they were pretty sure that Liam and Zayn were napping together on the sofa. 

“I don’t know! This has never happened before!” Niall started panicking. That was never a good sign. Niall never panicked.

Before any of them could do anything, Liam and Zayn started stirring. Louis was just about to call out their names, when she was suddenly lost for words. Liam and Zayn were kissing, right in front of their eyes.

“That was a good nap, wasn’t it?”

“Yeah, it was. Maybe we should do it at our own place next time?” Liam laughed.

“Maybe you should.” Harry couldn’t help but answer, while trying to look pissed. Honestly, she was more confused and surprised than anything.

Liam and Zayn scrambled up from the sofa, and tried to stand away from each other as fast as possible. It didn’t go very well, but they got there in the end.

“It isn’t what it looks like!”

“Isn’t it? Because to me, it looks like you were just napping, when you woke up, and the _absolute first_ _thing_ you did after waking up was kiss each other. Was that not what it was?” Niall honestly sounded a lot more angry than Harry felt.

“Maybe.” Zayn started blushing profusely.

“Wait! Does that mean? That our plan worked?” Louis suddenly remembered.

“Yeah, it did.” Liam admitted.

“So, what do you say?”

“Thank you?” Zayn tried. 

“Very well. You’re very welcome.”

“You both owe me money!” Niall yelled, and ran over to Harry and Louis, who were still standing next to each other.

“Wait? You bet on us?”

“Of course we did. I thought it wouldn’t happen for another two weeks and Harriet here had so little faith in you she thought it’d take another month.” Louis laughed. 

☼ ☼ ☼

“Hey Lou, what’ya doing?” Liam walked into Harry and Louis’ apartment and took a seat at the table, across from Louis, who was currently eating… _something_. 

“Just eating.”

“I can see that. What are you eating?”

“Cheesecake.” Louis sighed.

“Don’t mind me.” Liam grabbed a spoon from the sink and started eating. “Where did you get this?”

“It was just laying in front of our door!”

Liam quickly spit out the cheesecake she was about to eat. “What?!”

“In a box of course, dumbass. What do you take me for?”

“I don’t know. I could see you eating it from the floor.” Liam grabbed her spoon and dug in again. “Oh. My. God. This might’ve been the best thing I’ve eaten ever. Did you basically finish this whole thing by yourself?”

“Yeah, so what?”

“Nevermind. Back to business. One, why was it in front of your door? and two, why are you eating it at… 11 pm?” 

“I mean, you’re eating it as well.” Louis fired back. “But, if you really want to know. It was delivered to the wrong address but I didn’t want to give it back, because I crave cheesecake when I’m sad and that’s what I am. So. I treated myself.” 

Liam grabbed the box, which was lying on the ground, and saw the return address. “Mama’s Little Bakery. Huh. Never heard of it. Also, why are you sad?”

“Oh Liam, oblivious Liam.” Louis put down her fork and laid her head down on the table, sighing loudly. 

Liam put her hand on Louis’ shoulder. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’ve just come to the realisation that I’m going to be alone forever because Harry doesn’t love me so I’m going to die alone.”

“You love Harry?”

“Well yeah, I’m pretty sure everyone has it figured out except for Harry herself. Not that it would make a difference though, but glad you also caught on as well.”

“How do you know she doesn't like you?” Liam tried.

“Li. She went on a date just last week.”

“So? It sucked. She’s single.”

Louis sighed, again, and looked at Liam. “Just give it up Li.”

“No, I won’t. Let’s have lunch, and we’ll figure something out. Where do you wanna go?”

Louis stood up and grabbed her jacket, which was hanging on the door, and grabbed the cheesecake box. “Mama’s Little Bakery, Chicago?”

“You’ve got it!”

☼ ☼ ☼

“Wowie, why are you dressed up so nicely?” Niall asked, while Harry walked out of her room, into the living room. She was wearing a red dress and high heels. Louis was going to faint. She couldn’t handle it anymore.

“It’s not too much?” Harry blushed.

“No way, H. You look gorgeous.” 

Harry smiled, while Zayn muttered “yeah, you think she looks good in everything”. Louis was going to kill Zayn. 

“Thank you. I have this thing with work, and I don’t want to be too overdressed.” 

“You won’t. And even if you will, everyone will just be jealous of how good you look.” Liam chimed in.

“Thank you for all the compliments! You’re all lovely. I owe you my life and I will see you tonight! Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” Harry yelled, while walking out of the apartment, and pulling the door behind her shut.

Louis sighed and fell down onto the sofa. “She’s so pretty I want to cry.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“Are you ready?” Harry asked, while she put the cups of tea on the table. It was Louis’ first day at her new job, so Harry decided to make her breakfast, but it wasn’t like Louis was eating anything anyway. She was way too nervous to eat, but she didn’t want to make Harry sad, so she mustered up all the energy she had and had a few bites of the toast Harry made.

“No. I feel like I’m going to be sick. What if they don’t like me? What if they decide I’m not good enough?” Louis put her head in her hands and almost started crying.

Harry walked over to her and put her hands on her shoulders. “Hey. Look at me.” She waited until Louis looked up, and then continued. “You’re not going to suck. You’re gonna be great. You know what you’re doing. Plus, you’ve had like five interviews with them, they know what you’re like. Just do what you do every day and you’re going to do amazing.”

“Are you sure?” _There was that smile again that Harry loved so much_.

“I am. I believe in you, Lou. Now, eat some food and have some tea, because it’s freezing outside so you need to warm up inside.” 

After she had finished her breakfast, Louis started freaking out again. “How do I look? Is it too much? Not enough? What if these kids make fun of me? Oh, my god, they’re going to make fun of me.” 

“Lou, hey. You look amazing. Like a professional. And the kids are not going to make fun of you. They’re five. They’re probably just as nervous as you are.” Harry tried to calm Louis down, but it didn’t look like it was working very well. 

“Five year-olds can be harsh!” Louis cried out.

“Okay, so, if they are, you know what to do. You have six siblings, who have all been five, and you’ve handled them all very well. I believe in you.” That seemed to work, as Louis didn’t look as stressed anymore.

“Good point.”

Harry couldn’t help but smile at that. “I know. Now, get that cute butt into gear, or you’re going to be late!” 

“You think my butt is cute?” Louis blushed.

“Well. I think you’re cute. Your butt is part of you. Which means I think your butt is cute.” Harry couldn’t believe she actually said that. She thought it, definitely, but saying it to Louis definitely was something else.

“Harriet Styles.”

“Come on, let’s go!! We can discuss this later!!” _We can?_

☼ ☼ ☼

“So. To sum it up, you had an amazing first day and everyone loves you.” Liam exclaimed.

“They don’t _love_ me. They just like me. Which, thank god for that. But, I have a problem. They have this thing on Friday, which is like a meet the colleagues thing, and they want me to bring someone. I don’t even _have_ someone!” Louis was panicking, again.

“Hey! I have an idea!” Just by the look on Zayn’s face, Louis wished she had never even said anything. “Why don’t you take Harry?”

“Me?” Harry chimed in.

“Yeah. You’ve known each other a long time, so it’s not weird, plus you’d look great together.” Hm, maybe Louis was not going to kill Zayn after all.

“I mean, I’m free on Friday.” Harry shrugged.

“You’d do that?”

“Of course, Lou.”

☼ ☼ ☼

“That was fun.” Harry couldn’t stop giggling. She actually did have a lot of fun, but she wasn’t sure how much was because of the event, and how much was because of Louis.

“It was. Thank you for coming with me, H.” Louis took a step closer to Harry, so they were now both standing in the middle of the hallway. They were about to go into their apartment, but they weren’t really ready for that yet. 

“Thank you for taking me.” Harry moved even closer to Louis, just as close as they could be. When Harry looked up at Louis, she realised their faces were basically touching. 

“H.” Louis reached out, and put both her hands around Harry’s neck. 

“Yeah.” That was all Louis needed, and then she was kissing Harry. She tasted sweet. Harry had a few strawberry margaritas, maybe that was why she was sweet. Although, knowing Harry, that was probably just how she was in general. Louis could feel Harry putting her hands on her waist and just slowly moving them up and down. Louis gently put her tongue against Harry’s lips and Harry opened them willingly. They were getting breathless, but it felt like neither of them wanted this to stop. When they did finally come up for air, they both started giggling. 

“I enjoyed that. A lot.” Louis got out, in between her laughs. 

“Hey Lou.”

“Yeah?”

“You taste of salt and vinegar.”

“Weirdo.”

Harry took Louis’ hands in hers, and looked her in the eyes. “I don’t really want this night to end.” She confessed.

“Well, if I’m honest, I am absolutely knackered, so I do really want to go to bed, but I’d love to do this again.”

The corners of Harry’s mouth turned up after Louis said that, and Louis couldn’t help but kiss her again. 

When they opened the door to their apartment, they were still holding hands. “What the fuck? What are you all doing here?”

“We gave you guys a key for emergencies. You’re over here all the time when only one of us is here, which, makes sense, but we weren’t even here!” Harry chimed in.

“We were out of Doritos.” Niall exclaimed, as if that explained everything.

“That qualifies as an emergency.” Zayn added, looking very seriously.

“So, did you have fun?” Liam asked. When she properly looked at them, she almost started squealing. “Oh my god! You’re holding hands. Is this a _thing_ now?”

Harry and Louis looked at each other longingly, while still not letting go of the other’s hand. Like another one of their weird communication moments, they started speaking at the same time.

“Let's do it.” 

**Author's Note:**

> hiii 
> 
> I hope you enjoyed reading this, and it would mean the world to me if you want to rb [my tumblr post](https://loveonwallstour.tumblr.com/post/639318386821775360/its-your-flawless-soul-that-bleeds-my-stone-by) if you liked it!


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